


Human touch

by rautatavara



Category: Half-Life
Genre: M/M, References to Adrian losing his eyesight, but hes cool about it and hes got more important stuff to think about, gay thoughts, like trying not to be gay i guess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-05
Updated: 2020-05-05
Packaged: 2021-03-02 23:01:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 877
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24014860
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rautatavara/pseuds/rautatavara
Summary: Adrian runs into an injured guard at Black Mesa. He needs comfort.
Relationships: Adrian Shephard/A Black Mesa Guard
Comments: 6
Kudos: 50





	Human touch

Adrian had been on the move for three hours now. Black Mesa was an endless maze, and his injuries burning didn’t help his sense of direction. The crash had left his vision unusually blurry. Nothing like the accidents back at camp had done to him. For now, he relied on instinct and hearing. He stopped walking. Someone was moving in the room next to him. Here we go. He raised his gun and kicked the door in to make sure nobody was in danger of a zombie attack.

"Please don't shoot! I don't know where Freeman is!" the person in the room raised his arms instantly. No zombies. Adrian hadn’t been aware of how intimidating he looked like, and lowered his weapon. The guard was startled by his sudden entrance. He had his eyes closed and was helplessly leaning on the wall opposite of the soldier. Adrian was desperately trying to get his eyes to focus on his face. It ended up making him look more menacing than intended. Relax, Shephard.

Following that, he quickly assessed the situation. The guard seemed surprisingly charming to him, despite looking like he would fall down at any moment; he could barely stand and Adrian didn't have anything to heal his wounds with. The only aid he had to offer was mental. There was another body laying down on the ground. Blood all over, half covered by something, he couldn’t tell. Either way, it was dead. He snapped his eyes back to the one still alive.

"It's okay, I'm a friend," Adrian said while putting his gun on a table near the door, "you're not going to get hurt." The guard slowly relaxed, lowering his arms. He trembled still. Heavy breaths. 

"Are you okay?" Adrian tried being concerned despite knowing the answer. He was not. The guard looked dizzy, supporting his body weight with a table next to him. He stumbled in-place, leaned onto the wall, and let himself fall down. All those actions made him sigh.

"This is too much," the guard let out, looking to Adrian and then to his late friend, "I don't want to die alone." This prompted Adrian to look outside of the room to make sure no zombies were around, and proceeded to close the door. Putting down his backpack, he only kept his handgun holstered. He walked to the guard, sitting down next to him. Adrian looked into the guard’s eyes. Not afraid, but unsure. Him being a soldier did put stress on him. He took off his gloves, and gently grabbed the guard’s hand into his own. Adrian's were way warmer than the guards’. 

"Human touch, it helps to remind you that you're not alone," he said, thinking of all the times he had done this at camp when anyone felt lonely. The guard stopped trembling as time went on, but now Adrian could instead feel his heartbeat quicken. Him getting red. Still, the guard didn't pull away.

"You look tired," Adrian mentioned.

"You could tell? " he laughed.

"With all this going on? Barely. Lay down. I'll keep watch."

The guard tilted his head, looking like he was seriously considering the offer. However, he still felt embarrassed about it. He laughed it off with a joke.

“I don’t know if I can, the floor, it’s- well.” he mumbled.

Adrian knew he was right. The floor was uncomfortable, but he wanted to give him a proper resting place. He let go of the guard’s hands to take off his jacket. He gave it to the guard and adjusted his sitting position.

“Use my thigh as a pillow,” he said without thinking about how it would sound to a stranger. Oops. Blushing under his mask. But it did seem to work on him. The guard just smiled for a second, taking his helmet off. His hair was lovely. Curly. Why was he thinking about things like this. At a time like this. While Adrian was stuck in his thoughts, the guard hesitantly laid his head on his leg. The jacket laid on him smelled different from everything else in Black Mesa. It was comfortable. More so than anything else in the facility at the moment.

"Before I forget, what's your name?" Adrian asked, looking down at him.

"I'll tell you after the nap. I oughta buy you dinner after all of this is over," the guard smiled. Adrian huffed in amusement. He found that watching out the window to protect their lives from danger was far more boring than watching the guards body rise and fall as he was slowly breathing. The room was somehow getting hotter.

Adrian, hoping the guard had fallen asleep, couldn’t take his thoughts anymore. He lifted his hand from the ground, and put it through the guards hair. Soft. The guard moved in his sleep, almost like wanting to turn on his side but not being able to due to the size of the space. His hand snapped away. So foolish, Shephard, so foolish, he thought to himself. 

The night kept getting longer and longer. The dark facility didn’t help in realizing the passing of time. Laying down did get tiring. All Adrian was hoping for at this point was that they both would still wake up the next morning.


End file.
